Russian Grandmother Fights Off Wolf with an Axe

When a wolf tried to eat one of Aishat Maksudova’s calves, the 56-year-old grandmother and farmer from the North Caucasus Mountains in Russia let her axe speak for her cattle. Many American farmer and ranchers deal with the same problem, but a firearm typically solves the predation issue. In Russia, where firearms are more strictly regulated than in America, citizens apparently use what weapons they can to protect their livestock.

Tending to her herd, Maksudova was called to help against a Eurasian wolf preying on a calf. She ran over to stop the calf from being eaten by the wolf and when she got close enough, the wolf turned its sights on her.

“The wolf suddenly jumped on me with an open mouth. He clawed into my leg and I wanted to hit him with the ax,” she said in an interview with ITN. “When I raised my arm up like this [in video] the wolf was just holding my hand. I wanted to open his mouth and put my fist all the way to his throat, but I could not open him … And then I took the ax and hit him on his head.”

In the end, Maksudova won the fight, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t get away without a few wounds that had to be treated in the hospital. Hear her describe the end and see photos of the wolf in the video below.